Film Review
One of the best-loved British television sitcoms of the 1970s,
Rising Damp finally got the movie
makeover in 1980, one in a slew of middle-of-the-road comedies that
came out around this time to capitalise on the success of their TV
counterparts. It was generally a dismal time for the British film
industry and producers obviously thought that by putting familiar faces
on the big screen in shoddy versions of popular shows they could stem
the rot. Far from it. Whilst it is by no means the worst
offender,
Rising Damp The Movie
fails where so many similar films failed before it, by not recognising
that the TV sitcom format only works for half hour television sitcoms.
Judged on its own merits,
Rising
Damp The Movie is not so bad as you might expect (and nowhere
near as dire as similar offerings, such as the truly risible
On the Buses films). It
shamelessly recycles most of its situations and jokes from episodes of
the television series, but the four principals, led by the magnificent
Leonard Rossiter, manage to make them as fresh and funny as ever.
Eric Chappell's humour (revolving mostly around sex, racial prejudice
and mindless cruelty to domestic animals) may be woefully dated by
today's standards but the gags still get a laugh, although it is the
on-going struggle by Rigsby to get into a clinch with Miss Jones that
provides most entertainment value.
Rigsby is one of the immortal grotesques of British television.
He and his dilapidated, damp-ridden boarding house provide the most
succinct representation for all that was wrong with Britain in the
1970s (which may account for the series' immense popularity).
Leonard Rossiter was born to play the part and pulls off the seemingly
impossible feat of making him both odious and sympathetic, a believable
character yet one who is also the worst kind of caricature, pathetic
but also irresistibly funny. Frances de la Tour is just as superb
as the tragically passionate Miss Jones, another sad stereotype given
depth and charm by an inordinately talented actress.
Confounding the prevailing racial stereotypes, Don Warrington brings
sophistication and dry wit to his portrayal of the supposed African
prince Philip, whilst Christopher Strauli does a reasonable job
standing in for Richard Beckinsale, who tragically died from a heart
attack the year before the film was made.
Yes, the film has glaring faults that are hard to forgive: a
hideously naff title song (which was, incredibly, released as a single)
and some pointlessly arty direction from Joseph McGrath (going by his
obsessive use of low- and high- angled shots, you'd think he was
shooting a film noir). But all this is made up for by Leonard
Rossiter's last great turn as Rigsby, the self-important landlord from
Hell that no one can resist falling in love with. If nothing
else, the film helps to keep alive the memory of one of Britain's most
successful and best-written sitcoms. If you think
Rising Damp The Movie is okay
(apart from the odd mouldy patch here and there), you'll be blown away
by the brilliance of the original series.
© James Travers 2013
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Mr Rigsby is the self-deluding, mean-spirited landlord of a town house
that has definitely seen better days. Long since divorced, he
rents out his rooms to carefully scrutinised tenants, who presently
include Miss Jones, a repressed spinster prone to amorous delusions,
and Philip Smith, a black medical student who claims to be the son of
an African chief with ten wives. With accommodation apparently
hard to come by, Rigsby has no difficulty attracting his next lodger,
John, a naive arts student who ends up sharing an attic room with
Philip. For years, Rigsby has sought to make an amorous conquest
of Miss Jones, and he is so close to realising his dream when a
smooth-talking con artist named Seymour enters the fray...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.